Patients having dermatitis, particularly atopic dermatitis, have suddenly increased in recent years. While the grounds for the sudden increase of patients having atopic dermatitis has not been sufficiently clarified, it is considered that the grounds are classified into three large groups. The first ground is a change in the eating habit. That is, by an increase in consumption of flesh and meat as well as dairy product such as butter, cheese and the like, changed from the conventional vegetable-centered diet, it is considered that the physical constitution itself has been changed. The second ground is a change in the living environment. That is, by a change from the conventional houses using wood, plaster, paper, rush-mat and the like to houses using various synthetic building materials, chemically synthesized size, chemical mat and the like, it is considered that various chemical substances contained in these building materials are released in the living environment resulting in the change in the physical constitution. In addition, irritation on the skin may be increased by a change from the conventional clothes made of natural material fibers such as wool, cotton and the like to clothes made of various chemical fibers resulting in increase of irritation onto the skin, and a changing from washing with soaps to washing with synthetic detergents and dry-cleaning, and a use of shampoos, rinses, hair conditioners may also be grounds. As the third ground, it is considered that a level down in immunity is caused by speed-up in the living rhythm and raised level of work proceeded in all the aspect, resulting in exposure of infants and adults to excess stress.
Atopic dermatitis is a disease occurred to the children whose resistance power is poor and having an age from two- or three-months old to about ten years old. The patients are accompanied by intense itch with wetting and erosion. The itch is given a mental pain to the patients and aggravated symptoms by scratching. Particularly, in the case of infant patient, it is painful not only for the patients themselves but also for the parents and near relations.
Although various countermeasures have been examined and practiced for the prophylaxis or therapy of this atopic dermatitis, most of them are countermeasures belonging to the symptomatic therapy; particularly known are antihistaminic agents, antiallergic agents, antiphlogistic agents, steroidal agents and the like for the symptomatic therapy of western medicine, but all of them have been unsatisfactory in pharmacological effect and side effects.
For example, although antihistaminic agents and antiallergic agents have an action of suppressing itch, they have problems in the duration of effect and antiphlogistic effect, and are problematic in long-term administration for chronic itching because sometimes they bring about troubles in the daily life due to symptoms such as weariness, sleepiness and the like caused by administration.
Although steroidal agents have generally a high pharmacological effect, they are fundamentally drugs for suppressing symptoms, and sometimes the cure cannot be attained even by a long-term administration of steroidal agents; they are problematic because of their strong drug-characteristic side effects; for example, sometimes they cause dermatrophia in which the skin becomes thin like a flimsy, capillarectasia in which capillary blood vessel in the skin rises forming red-skin, and various infections such as fungal infection, folliculitis (pimple), herpes and the like due to decrease in the immune power. Additionally, when a very large amount of a very strong steroidal agent is used within a short period, sometimes functional disorder of adrenal grand, shock and the like occurs. In another case, when use of steroidal agent is suddenly discontinued after a long-term use, problems arises that the daily life become difficult by a revival of symptoms suppressed before by the steroidal agent and a rebound phenomenon (jump back) in which symptoms such as itching, redness, swelling and the like increases more than before.
In addition, based on the fact that Staphyllocaccus aureus and others were found in the diseased part of atopic dermatitis, application of Isodine, a disinfectant agent, has been practiced in some cases. Indeed the effect of application of Isodine has been confirmed in a skin on which bacteria is abundant, isodine is effective only to bacteria floating on the surface of skin, and has no effect against bacteria within a biological membrane or bacteria invaded deeply in the skin. Not only that, Isodine is liable to cause a rash, and when once a rash is caused, the reaction is repeated and sometimes an ulcer is formed on the skin or a reaction such as shock or the like is caused. Moreover, sometimes hypothyroidism is induced.
From a similar viewpoint against bacteria, sometimes upper acidic water is used, but problems similar to those in Isodine arise.
In addition to the above-described countermeasures based on western medicine, treatment by Sino-Japanese medicament have also been practiced. For example, respective crude drug ingredients of Rhizoma coptidis detoxication soup and Heat-clearing and wind-dispelling powder as therapeutic agents for atopic dermatitis are Baikal skullcap, Coptis Root, Gardenia Fruit, Amur Cork Tree and Japanese Angelicae Root, Chinese Fox-Glove Root, Gypsum, Saposhnikoviae Radix, Great Burdock Achene, Akebiae Stem, Anemarrhena rhizome, Sesame, Cryptotympana atrata, Lightyellow Sophora Root; since they belong to anti-itching agents for suppressing itch or blood-activation agents for stopping pain by improving blood circulation and therefore respective drugs belong to the symptomatic therapy dealing with individual symptoms, these medicaments cannot be said to be medicaments for fundamental cure.
In addition, although drugs for paint such as ointments containing Sino-Japanese drugs have been prepared, these belong also to so-called symptomatic therapy and therefore are far from the fundamental cure by improvement of physical constitution.
Moreover, while the activity is mild, Sino-Japanese drugs with a purpose of suppressing the aforementioned side effects have been proposed. For example, Japanese Patent Publication JP-A-6-166629 has proposed an agent for improving atopic dermatitis formed by mixing Potent Bupleuri Decoction and Angelica peony powder. Indeed side effects are suppressed in these agents for improving atopic dermatitis, there is a problem that its anti-itching effect is not sufficient.
Beside, Japanese Patent Publication JP-A-8-301779 has proposed an external drug for atopic dermatitis containing as an active ingredient an extract solution from one, two or more plants selected from the group consisting of Linden, Lemonbalm, Fenugreek, Borage, Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, Pink Pyrola, Willowleaf Swallowwort Rhizome, Chlerodendron cyrtophyllum, and Clinopodium chinese.
However, while the external drugs for atopic dermatits exerts some anti-itching effect and disease-improving effect by applying it onto the diseased part, it is an agent for suppressing a symptom acting on the symptom appeared on the outside surface of body, and not an agent for fundamental cure onto the basis for the symptom, there was a problem that the itching symptom revived when its application was discontinued.
Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provides a drinkable tea for therapy of dermatitis which enables therapy of dermatitis, particularly atopic dermatitis, by improvement of physical constitution itself of a patient having dermatitis, particularly atopic dermatitis, by drinking, and not an external preparation like conventional ones as described above.